Botanic Gardens

Not true!

In Southeast Asia, 'Carrot Cake' or 'Fried Carrot Cake' refers to a common dish of stir-fried cubes of radish cake (a steamed mixture of shredded radish, water and rice flower). It is in no way a cake, as cake is thought of in the west, nor does it contain any carrots. 'Radish Cake and Onion Scramble' would be a more appropriate name for it.

It had good flavor, but the radish cake acted like a sponge, soaking up much of the oil it was cooked in so it was a little grease and heavy.

After all the oil consumed in the Carrot Cake, we had to get some fruit to try and offset the feeling in our stomachs.

It took us longer than we'd like to admit to realize that this in fact meant 'Hi-Calcium' and not 'Hi-Calorie' milk...

Frightening ad in the subway

We decided to visit the Botanic Gardens early in the morning, hoping it might not be too crowded or too hot, so after breakfast we headed straight there. We managed to beat the crowds, but we sure weren't successful in beating the heat! ☹

There's gotta be at least one Koi pond in every Asian garden...

Peek-A-Boo!

This Tembusu tree, featured on the Singaporean $5 note, is believed to have existed before the Botanic Gardens site was first laid out in 1859. That was all the informational plaque said, no mention of what's important about it or why they put it on the $5 bill. Thanks a lot Singapore, very informative.

Self-Timers

Vanda Miss Joaquim (or Singapore Orchid)
The national flower of Singapore

Supposedly very pretty when in bloom, but unfortunately we saw them out of season. To us, they just looked like strange, upright tangles of vines.

Crazy looking, old tree

Creepy Art

Tourists...

The fountain at the entrance to the National Orchid Garden. The garden, or orchidarium is probably the main attraction to the Singapore's Botanic Gardens, but we're not really orchid enthusiasts in any way, so we didn't pay to tour that section.

You can spot a European from a mile away!

The Swan Pond

After walking around the Botanic Garden, working off our carrot cake from that morning and working up an appetite, we headed to a nearby neighborhood in search of a restaurant Judy read about online.

Found in a kitchen store:
Really?! You're still trying to sell this?

You really think someone's going to buy it?

French for lunch

First Course - Salads

Second Course - Mains

Third Course - Desserts

Our lunch at Bistro Petit Solut ended up being one of the best meals we had on the trip. Afterwards, we were uncomfortably stuffed, which was made even more miserable by the intense afternoon heat, but neither of us had any regrets!

Down the street from lunch:

All Breeds Pets
From the looks of it, this has to be the swankiest pet store in the world.